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EXCLUSIVE: Felix Lim unwittingly triggered one of the most successful undercover police investigations in New Zealand history. The fugitive called the Herald to give his side of the story

The Auckland man who unwittingly helped an undercover police officer infiltrate a sprawling drug network says he will never return to New Zealand and fears for his safety.

Felix Lim was targeted by a special duties constable called Joe Arama, purporting to be a drug dealer from Wellington, and introduced him to pseudoephedrine suppliers socialising in the VIP lounge at SkyCity.

The covert Taskforce Ghost investigation led to the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of the Class-B drug, used to cook methamphetamine. and convictions for more than 30 people involved in the underworld trade. Millions of dollars of cash and assets were also frozen.

Lim's name regularly cropped up in four criminal trials but he never stood in the dock. He left New Zealand three months before the police raids in December 2013 and never returned.

The police kept listening and watching, learning more and more about Tran and his drug-dealing empire. Lim also led them to focus on Hui Zhang, the owner of a yum cha restaurant, and his pseudoephedrine network.

Juries for four different trials heard bugged phone calls involving Lim, but he told the Herald those conversations were about legitimate business deals, not drugs.

"I wasn't directly involved, I just introduced people."

He left New Zealand in September 2013 - three months before detectives in Taskforce Ghost arrested nearly 40 people.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyers in the second trial, Detective Sergeant Mike Beal said police knew Lim was leaving the country but did not stop him because doing so could compromise the investigation.

Others under surveillance had left New Zealand and returned, and Beal said the police thought Lim would do the same.

He could "state categorically" police did not suggest to Lim to leave New Zealand as he was not a "willing participant or police informant".